Bill Babler

I believe Paulinik let it soak a long time and really I believe it is the only bait he fished the entire derby. He did not fish with the Shell Knob wiggle wart 11 pound crew he said. I really do not know where he fished other than on Sunday. I watched him at Kimberling city and he let it set 15 to 20 seconds, on Sunday. Mike let the 115 set but not long as he was fishing it really shallow. He let the 110 set just like he said. Now think about this he is throwing it 100+ feet You let it set 10 seconds before a twitch or a line pickup and you are talking about a single cast lasting a long, long time, ie keeping the bait in the strike zone as long as possible. I think Balsa mentioned he had learned another tool against the moss and that was a very good observation. Mike for the most part on Sunday fish the Swimbait. Another note on the jerker, is if you can work it by just turning its head and twitching it, but really not bring it to the boat in a hurry that is the way to use it. Just like working a spook around timber, just keep turning its head and keep it near the tree as possible. Good Luck

There were some guys working the jerker faster than others. When Michael threw it he let it sit. AMart was not working it super fast either. One factor for sure on the jerkbait bite was where you were fishing it. If you were fishing it dead shallow you had to keep it coming to keep it out of the moss. If you were fishing deeper you did not need to move it so fast. Every jerkbait bite even VanDam's came on the pause no matter how short that was. That wart bite was not cranking it like a mad man either, it was a slow stop and go retrieve.

If anyone needs any please check with Chompers Table Rock Bait Co. I spoke to Ed Larson this morning and they have the 5/16, and I believe they have them with both 3/0 and 4/0. 1/4--5/16--3/8th. are the best size for swimming shallow under 10 ft.

I really think that in all the years here and with all the tournaments we have had, more lake and bait and fishing knowledge was learned this past week, than any previous event. Guys and gals, take a minute and please share a thought on something you picked up and are going to try to make you a better fisherman.

Ya Dave that was AMart. I will bet you a nickel to a Ned Rig that new bait will be in the $20 plus range minimum. Right now, go to Tacklewarehouse and look at how many wobble heads of any brand they have available in sizes under 1/2 Oz. Answer to that is ZERO. If these guys get on a bait I don't care where it is, they just fly off the shelves. I also think that Strike King Rage Menace is completely sold out also.

Who is the pretty Brunette? Good way to get the guys to stop for a photo. Now that is using your Noggin.

I think they pretty much had the old stuff. Either Pre-Repala or Vintage or Original.

I heard both the word vintage mentioned and Original. I have 8 original V38's that I seldom use. I used them this last couple of weeks. I had a very good client offer me $50.00 for one or he would give me $200 for 3 if I want to sell them. He knows wiggle warts, I said I thought you could buy these on ebay for under 20 bucks each, and he said he wanted the ones I had for some reason after grubbing thru my wart box. I took a guy last week, that for a while had a old vintage wart of undisclosed color that was working magic. I believe the V38 caught it however. Best wart I have ever used.

Gosh it was such a thrill. Seeing a friend win a tournament like that fishing for that much money and the composure he had was incredible. Michael was using a lot of local knowledge on where LM bass live. I believe he only weighed in 1 K for the entire deal. We have talked about this many times on here. Where are the majority of Big events won on Table Rock lake. Usually within 10 mile one way or the other from Kimberling City. Kimberling City has everything these big bass need to be there, plus it is stocked from the rest of the lake on a weekly basis with 90% of all tournaments going out of there or close. Mike contributed his success on fishing for LM rather than fishing for just bass bites and he said it more than once. He was not in the White River Wiggle Wart crowd. He did catch his biggest fish on a wart, but he was targeting a shallow pile. Me worked each location with multiple baits before he would leave an area. As I said if he knew there were LM there he hit them from multiple angles and with multiple baits. Michael worked docks really slowly and caught fish off of every dock I saw him fish. I do not know how he picked the docks he wanted, but once he targeted a dock he picked its bones. Double E also described what he was doing and it is what Mike was targeting. They were looking for ledge rock shelves mixed in the gravel banks. Standing and pole timber in a little deeper water did not hurt, but they wanted that shelf rock and really not that steep of stuff. Except for the docks, Michael's fish came in under 4' of water and on every cast it was a 100 plus ft. parallel right down the bank. Don't think he got up river higher than point 19 during the entire deal. Palaniuk fished a jerker at KC on the last day and from what I heard did it the entire week on other lake sections. Those guys that ran up to Shell Knob, caught Shell Knob fish. How many times have we praised that area as being one of the best bass fishing areas on Table Rock lake? Great area to fish and to guide, I just love it. I will live there when I retire. Really poor area if you want to win a derby. There is just not enough quality LM bites up there. You go to Shell Knob you catch Shell Knob fish. That is not a bad thing. If you have any more questions or comments that I might have an idea on, I'll let ya know. This has been a really fun past week.

Nope, Denny, he had several poles that had GoPro cameras on them. He had 2 of the big cameras and at least several GoPro cameras. He also had two other follow boats, one with 3 guys with huge still cameras like you would see at a NFL game and the other boat was a boat that the camera man would get out of Mike's boat and jump in from time to time for other video footage. That camera man worked from the time he got in the boat till the time he got out. On Mike's boat, I don't think he was worried about it getting scratched on either the dock or in the rocks. Those boats are nothing more than platforms for them to fish. I would say if they got to ram it into anything to win a derby, so be it.

Tried to keep my distance and it looks way closer than I am. I was using a Nikon D40 with a DSF 300mm Nikor lens.

How are they tracked do you have any idea? Is it information from their GPS or do they have some type of a mobile tracker placed in the boat. It that were the case, if KVD or AMart did not want you to know could they just turn it off?

Excellent post, that is the kind of information that makes this the site it is. Thanks Plug

Question, is that head just threaded over the hook and moved up to the eye or is it attached with a split ring. Also it looks to me like a 3/8th. Mark said he was fishing it like a cranbait right on the bottom, and if it hit a rock he would shake it off but kept it moving and swimming at all times. I do think we need much form info on this bait. Looks like the deal for Jaws or K's and I do not believe it has really caught on that well here. Also look at his trailer. When I have fished it I have used a bigger bait like a smallie beaver. He pretty much has a small craw on it. If you remember from the short video he had it is just about the size of the dad that the fish spit in his boat.

Right as Rain Pilgrims. Dave you are watching way to much educational TV. He culled 3 later in the day when he was fighting the wind. He caught 2 fish a nice LM and a Jaw at 16 that allowed him to cull 2 of his early dock fish that were K's for the win. Without those last 2 that came late he would not have sealed the deal. His reels are stock. He says to Bill. "Beck, those Dawia Steez reels are just to fancy for me."

Yep, you are correct. The Dopper took the week off from UPS and drug a Zoom Fish Dr. to victory on the flats from Old 86 to Combs Ferry. I cannot remember if he even had a Jaw, I think they maybe all but 1 were K's.

Beck and Mike are more than best friends, they have fished together for year. Mike's parents and I worked sports shows together all over the mid-west during the early 90's Mike would be there when he could be to help them at their booth selling very quality equipment. It was just a joy watching him yesterday. Bill told me something that Mike does. He uses zero to hardly any drag on his reels, almost a free spool. Bill said if you push the button on his bait casters all the line will just roll off and pile up on the floor, they are that loose. Do not try this at home. Bill said he cannot even think about fishing Mike's equipment. That being said is how he can throw it that far with such accuracy. You make the slightest goof, your fault, my fault the wind or the boats fault, and you get a buggy Bo. I will tell you now, it really works for him, especially throwing extremely light baits that we would all probably throw on a spinner.

Gogg, that is a very good point. Something else is and you touched on this is how well they can fish. Saw Mike hit the corner of a dock once with a bait and it thumped on the dock, but of all the presentations he made all day that was the only cast that I thought did not go where he wanted it to within not feet, but inches. He probably missed that cast by several inches, no more. From 120 ft. how many times can you hit the green with a golf ball, let alone put it within inches of the pin. Something to think about Let me restate here the wind was just howling and the waves were crashing, throwing his Stratos Elite up and down and all over the place. There are fish they can catch that we cannot catch and by watching these guys it is very easy to see that. I fish everyday and could not even when I was in my prime fish like Mike. As a guide I cannot expect my clients to fish like that either. These guys have made the major leagues just like in any other sport and they are professionals. They not only have to deal with equipment and fish, but with the environment as well. Thank goodness there are some out there we can catch and help others to catch.

Wonderful report and thanks. If you had caught zero being able to spend time on the water with your dad would have been pleasure enough. Your great catch day was more than a bonus. Good Luck

Thanks Sore and Alex, Something about Mike was that he would fish an area at least 3 times as long as I did. If he thought there were multiple fish on a location, he would hit it with 2 or 3 different baits at two or 3 different angles. Here is a special note. He did at times catch multiple fish on a location, but every time and I mean every time, he put his best fish in the boat on his first cast to said location. subsequent cast produced fish, but never as big as the first fish. His first stop he worked one point and 3 docks for 2 hrs and 30 minutes. I would have been there about 30 minutes total. He caught them his first pass thru and then refished it again. No results on the seconds, but he fished it as good both times.

Couple of things on the Wart Bite. That bite was by far the best up the White River in the rain stained Kings River water. It got clearer everyday and with the clearing the slimmy moss is coming. On my guide trips there the last 3 days, if we got between Campbell Point and KC, we started mossing really bad. Mike had problems with that today. I think that is why he fished the single hooked lite Swimbait. That moss will get bad and I mean really bad. It seems to have a depth limit of about 15 ft. Then as the water hits mid-70's it breaks loose and goes away. As the week went on the wart bite started to subside as the water started to clear at Shell Knob.

He was throwing 2 different swimbaits, and I did see him throw a spinning reel a couple of times, but he put it right down. That would be a question for him. The overruns were not as problematic as the continued hang-up. Fishing the distance he fishes from the boat and as shallow as he was fishing with those massively long casts, would dictate hangups. I think it might have been a control thing or that he just felt more comfortable with the BC vs the Spinner. I know this, at 100' in the wind and surf we had today with the boat rocking and going crazy. He would hit you in the head with it 8 out of 10 times. Just flat Amazing.

WheeW!!!!! Mike just flat ground it out. We were with him all day, and he just flat fished and fished. He fished in a slow methodical completely calm and unhurried fashion that was really hard for me to comprehend. Just fantastic control of his emotions. Mike fished 6 locations in the 8 hrs. mostly fishing wind. I mean surf in some of them. He really concentrated on the very backs of the wind blown pockets, but the majority of his fish both keeps and shorts came in the front section to 1/3 way back in the coves. Right off the bat he put 3 keeps in the boat using a 4" swim bait with a small ball head. It was without a doubt his go to bait today. He did throw both of his McSticks the 110 and the shallow 115. He also tried to throw a WW, but the moss is really coming on in the clear water from Campbell Point to Kimberling City and with the type of shallow fishing he was doing, the Wart was mossing up. I might be wrong as we really tried to keep our distance, but I believe today all his fish came on the Swimbait. He was light line fishing on the bait caster and as he said using 8 pound. He was hung up a ton and had overruns with the huge wind time and time again. His ability to remain calm in the face of all of this just flat amazed me. Did not see him lose a single fish and believe he caught every bite. About 23 to 25 fish total. Something that I really stress here regardless of how deep or shallow you fish is the distance on your cast. Buster at his Bull Shoals presentation, also mentioned it as a huge part of his success. Today AMart also mentioned that distance here is so important, when he was on Stage. Mike's cast were 100 to 120 ft. I have never seen baits thrown so far from a boat. The distance he was casting that very lite swimbait was just crazy. Probably some of the reasons for the overruns. I heard him tell his camera man "I'm really not this bad." You try and throw 8 pound on a bait caster 120' with a 1/8 to 3/16 oz bait and see how you do. Cold miserable day out there, but one of our buddies did really good and won the deal hands down. Congrats Mike

Mike is a good friend. My fingers are crossed for him.

Yep you all were in the heavy surf off of Rod and Reel Point.